There is a moment when your son is splashing in a mud puddle and your daughter is doing downward dog with her mane of curls in mud that one wonders what on earth I could have been thinking when I said "come on over and we'll have a muddy playdate in the backyard."

This was simulatenously one of the best and one of the messiest playdates we have ever had.

Mud is messy (as if that needed stating). However, the amazed look when my daughter realized that she could really pour mud wherever she wanted, the giggles, and the two hours of intense exploration make it completely worth the messy clean up.

I highly recommend making some mud!

My two main tips; do this activity outside and do it when you have enough time for unrushed exploration and clean up. (For us, this was about 2 1/2 hours)

The How Tos of Muddy Sensory Play

Set Up:

After you have gathered the materials (see list below), little ones would probably enjoy helping with the set up.

We scooped the dirt into big bowls and our sensory table. Then we filled bowls and empty yougurt containers with water and poured it into the soil. Then we mixed it with spoons or our hands.

Activity:

This was pure mud exploration.

They scooped, poured, and carried mud. They worked for hours. Literally.

I observed. I helped occassionally. I took pictures of all the fun.

All on their own they explored capacity, weight, texture, and more.

Clean Up:

We did this activity outside. This is not absolutely needed, but I would highly recommend it. Not just because it is messy, but more importantly because being outside allowed me the calm of mind to let them go wild. They could make an enormous mess and it was okay because it was just dirt and it was outside where dirt belongs.

To clean up, we poured and scooped as much of the dirt as possible into the dirt areas already existing in our yard.

Then we hosed everything down. The sensory table, the bowls, and the little people.

After we had done our best, the towels were laid in a line to the bathrooom where we took an immediate bath. A more thorough hosing might have also done the trick in a pinch.